Fire damages Washington Twp. farmhouse

A Washington Township house under renovation sustained major fire damage Thursday morning.

"It appears the fire started on the porch outside the house," Chief Lee Byers of East Berlin's Liberty Fire Co. said.

Fire crews were called to the home in the first block of Hoffman Road about 1:15 a.m.

Firefighters had the blaze under control in about 15 minutes, but were on scene until about 6 a.m., doing cleanup, checking for smoldering hot-spots and waiting for a state police fire marshal to arrive, Byers said.

No one was hurt and no one was displaced, the chief said.

The old farmhouse is owned by a Washington Township woman who rents it out, according to Byers. But no one is currently living there because the owner is having it renovated, he said.

The building sustained quite a bit of exterior damage, as well as some interior damage, Byers said.

A state police fire marshal is investigating to determine what sparked the blaze, the chief said.